Outside the Beltway

A lot of people appear confused at to what the debt ceiling is and why it has to be raised.

Boehner wants some pretty big cuts in exchange for a vote on raising the debt ceiling.

Republicans seem to have realized that the Ryan Plan’s Medicare reforms aren’t going anywhere.

According to a new poll, the American public still isn’t sold on the idea of cutting entitlements to cut the budget deficit.

One of the Tea Party movement’s favorite Senators used the dreaded c-word.

In all honesty, much of what is coming out of the mouths of self-described conservatives is actually pretty darn radical.

To borrow a phrase: budgeting is the science of muddling through (with an emphasis on the “muddling” far more than the “science.”

What, if anything, does the budget deal mean for the future?

Demanding that the new GOP House hold the line at the current number is satisfying rhetorically, but all-but-impossible politically.

The American public still has a totally unrealistic view of what it will take to get the Federal Government’s fiscal house in order.

Freshman Members of Congress are threatening to block a vote to raise the debt ceiling that Congress will have to take by this Spring. They’d be irresponsible if they did so.

The new House Republican majority will force lawmakers to vote when they want to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, publish committee attendance records, ban former members from lobbying in the House gym and require new mandatory spending to be offset by cuts to other programs.

Within the first few months of 2011, Congress will be required to take another unpalatable vote to raise the debt ceiling. Already, some incoming Republicans are talking about waging an effort to block the vote. That would be politically, and financially, stupid.

Ok, what strategy should Speaker Boehner pursue?